In the eyes of most retailers, the Christmas season begins on Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving - when, unless you hate America, you're supposed to go shopping. The Thanksgiving season, meanwhile, kicks off on November 1, just as the Halloween decorations are put away for another year. But when does the Halloween season begin? It is a big enough holiday to spread out over an entire month, or perhaps longer? We don't think so, but plenty of people in the tourism industry do.

As the AP points out, the latest "tourism trend" involves Halloween-related events starting on the heels of Labor Day, giving consumers nearly eight weeks to visit haunted houses, attend costume balls, and even quaff a few Halloween beers.]]> Victor Ozols 2008-09-07T14:35:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/15/12941/7902

Walking around on the beach is usually only dangerous if a giant wave attacks or a shark decides to walk on land, but in slightly scary North Korea things can be a bit different.

Tourists from South Korea are allowed to travel to two tightly guarded spots in North Korea, one of them being the mountain resort of Mount Keumgang. Over the weekend a 53-year-old South Korean woman was shot dead there by a North Korean soldier because she crossed the boundary line of the resort during a walk on the beach.

Some sources say she ran towards her hotel once the guards approached her, while others say she was walking deep into the prohibited zone. Whatever the case, it's a reminder that although they can do some incredible crowd choreography, those North Koreans can be a really sinister bunch.

Related Stories:
· North Korean Soldier Kills South Korean Tourist [CNN]
· Can You Still Travel to North Korea? [Jaunted]
· Communist Choreography in North Korea [Jaunted]

[Photo: litlnemo]]]> amandak 2008-07-15T09:15:39-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/26/103247/475

National Park travel is one of our favorite topics around here, but unfortunately the most recent news isn't about a new park, secret location or exciting tour. It's about those looking to return to nature in the parks by taking their own lives.

This year alone, 18 people have wandered into parks across America with no intention of going home. The Everglades, Cape Cod and Olympic National Parks have all been home to recent suicides.

Although it's a little morbid to say, there's really no place better to once again join the earth. Al Nash, a spokesman for Yellowstone, agrees:

There are some individuals who feel it's important to have that kind of connection in those final moments.

Some suicides are more violent than others, but some people simply wander off into the wilderness. Many park rangers have been trained in suicide prevention and are even instructed to look for notes taped to steering wheels as clues. The most popular place for suicides? Grand Canyon National Park, where 10 people have killed themselves since 2004.

Related Stories:
· Parks Draw Some Who Want to End Their Lives [AP, via N&O]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of Sequoia National Park: Mel B.]]]> kjb 2008-06-26T13:00:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/29/165142/623

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has reached a settlement with the company behind the gruesome "Bodies" exhibition at the South Street Seaport in NYC, requiring them to disclose to visitors that the dead people they have on display could be

Chinese prisoners who may have been victims of torture and execution.

The settlement also requires Premiere Exhibitions--the company behind the show--to issue refunds to anyone who can prove that they paid to see the "Bodies" exhibit in New York and would've skipped it if they knew the people they were ogling might not have consented to being put on display.

Oh, it gets worse...]]> Hunter Walker 2008-05-29T17:18:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/5/125558/9034

Al Gore never warned us about this: The scary rise in shark attacks--there have already been four fatal ones this year, compared to 1 in all of 2007--is due to global warming, scientists say.

It's not that the sharks get ornery when they have to put the A/C on. But as temperatures rise, more people head to the water, and thus put themselves at risk of being attacked by a shark. Dr. George Burgess of the University of Florida tells the Guardian:

As long as we have an increase in human hours in the water, we will have an increase in shark bites.

Other pressures on sharks include overfishing (which drives the predators to seek prey outside their normal hunting areas) and seal overpopulation.

Find out if your favorite beach is about to become the next "Jaws" movie with our Killer Beaches 2008 map.

Related Stories:
· Surge in Fatal Shark Attacks Blamed on Global Warming [Guardian]
· Killer Beaches 2008 coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: bsmif]]]> egw 2008-05-05T13:34:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/28/215233/476

Have your summer beach trip all lined up? Hope you're not headed to one of this year's Killer Beaches, where for one reason or another, you're in danger the second you set foot on the sand.

From shark attacks to rip currents, the beaches that follow aren't necessarily deadly--but they can be. We've mapped 'em out so if you're still planning your getaway, you'll know which spots to avoid.

Careful out there this summer!]]> pbb 2008-04-29T09:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/13/232816/562

In "Rainman," Dustin Hoffman famously said that Australia's national carrier Qantas was his preferred airline because he considered it the safest: "Qantas never crashed." Not 100 percent true but certainly in the last 57 years, no passenger has died as a result of a crash involving the carrier.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said of Qantas staff. A catering employee involved in loading meals onto a Qantas aircraft in Brisbane yesterday fell through a gap in the airbridge and died after hitting the tarmac.

The victim was a 63-year-old woman and nobody's sure if she was wearing the safety harness that's usually required up there. In any case, it doesn't make Qantas's record look so pretty, and it was just another reason for delayed flights out of Brisbane yesterday.

Related Stories:
· Woman Worker Falls to Death [Daily Telegraph]
· Qantas Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: SpacePotato]]]> amandak 2008-04-14T09:15:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/